Major U.S. Cities Lost 1 Million Jobs Despite Massive Stimulus

The following press release was sent in from Congressman Kevin Brady (TX-8):

The twenty largest metropolitan areas in America have a million fewer workers on the job today than when the $814 billion federal stimulus program began, according to a new economic analysis by a congressional panel.

Seventeen of the 20 largest regions lost a total of 1,037,000 non-farm payroll jobs. The only major metro areas to add workers were Washington, D.C., Boston and Baltimore.

The study also reveals that while private sector jobs shrunk by nearly 557,000, federal government jobs grew by 42,700 in the major communities. On average, thirteen private sector jobs were lost for each federal job created.

The biggest job losers were Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Chicago and Phoenix. They are followed by Detroit, Riverside-San Bernardino, Philadelphia, Houston and Atlanta.

"With a million fewer workers in our major cities today than when the stimulus began, I can't imagine how the White House can proclaim it as anything but a terrible disappointment," said U.S.Congressman Kevin Brady of Texas, the top House Republican on the Joint Economic Committee.

"It’s striking that for every new worker added to the federal payroll, thirteen workers along Main Street got laid off," added Brady. President Obama promised that 90 per cent of the stimulus jobs would be created in the private sector. The reality is just the opposite."

The analysis was compiled from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data by the minority staff of the Joint Economic Committee covering the months from March 2009 to August 2010.